Grant Writing Post-Award Grant Management 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A nonprofit receives a federal grant that requires a 25% cash match. If the total project budget is $400,000, how much must the nonprofit contribute?
- $25,000
- $75,000
- $100,000 (Correct answer)
- $133,333
Correct answer: $100,000
A 25% match on a $400,000 total project budget means the nonprofit must contribute $100,000 ($400,000 × 0.25) in non-federal resources.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes 'effort reporting' in federally funded research grants?
- Tracking the number of publications produced under the grant
- Documenting the proportion of an employee's time devoted to grant-funded activities (Correct answer)
- Reporting the total hours spent on all organizational projects combined
- Calculating the indirect cost rate for the grant
Correct answer: Documenting the proportion of an employee's time devoted to grant-funded activities
Effort reporting certifies the percentage of each employee's professional effort spent on a specific grant, which is required to justify personnel costs charged to the award.
Question 3: Under Uniform Guidance, what is the threshold above which equipment must be tracked in a property inventory system?
- $500
- $2,500
- $5,000 (Correct answer)
- $10,000
Correct answer: $5,000
2 CFR 200.1 defines equipment as tangible personal property having a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit acquisition cost of $5,000 or more, requiring formal property management.
Question 4: A grantee needs to change the project scope significantly. What must they do before making the change?
- Notify the awarding agency within 30 days after the change
- Obtain prior written approval from the federal awarding agency (Correct answer)
- Document the change internally but no external approval is needed
- Submit a new grant application
Correct answer: Obtain prior written approval from the federal awarding agency
Significant changes in project scope are among the actions that require prior written approval from the awarding agency to ensure the change is consistent with the grant's objectives.
Question 5: What is a 'carryover' in federal grant management?
- Moving unspent funds from one budget period to the next with funder authorization (Correct answer)
- Charging costs from one grant to another grant
- Extending the project scope to cover new activities
- Transferring the grant to a different organization
Correct answer: Moving unspent funds from one budget period to the next with funder authorization
Carryover is the authorized transfer of unobligated funds remaining at the end of one budget period into the next budget period to continue approved activities.
Question 6: Which report type is used to communicate a grant's programmatic progress to the funder?
- Financial status report
- Performance progress report (Correct answer)
- Indirect cost rate report
- Single audit report
Correct answer: Performance progress report
Performance progress reports describe accomplishments, milestones achieved, and project activities, keeping the funder informed about whether the program is meeting its stated objectives.
Question 7: What is the risk of retroactive charging of costs to a federal grant?
- It speeds up the reimbursement process
- It can constitute misuse of funds if costs were not allocable to the project at the time incurred (Correct answer)
- It is always permitted within the period of performance
- It only applies to equipment purchases over $5,000
Correct answer: It can constitute misuse of funds if costs were not allocable to the project at the time incurred
Retroactive charges are scrutinized because if costs were not incurred in support of the grant project at the time, charging them later may violate allocability principles and constitute misuse.
Grant Writing Post-Award Grant Management 4
A nonprofit receives a federal grant that requires a 25% cash match.
If the total project budget is $400,000, how much must the nonprofit contribute?